"Work" is a black-and-white silent short film from 1915, so this one is another work directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin from over a century already. You won't find too many of his regular cast members in here this time. The version I watched ran for 25 minutes roughly, but I see here on imdb that versions of 31 and even 41 minutes exist apparently too. Not sure if some scenes were lost, but I think it's rather all about the frames per second. Anyway, it's not important anyway as regardless of how long it is, simply too much happens in here for the film to feel authentic and realistic and more than shoving us one (not so) funny scene in the face. In this one Charlie's shenanigans, but also the other characters' messing up in their rage mostly have an impact on that and maybe a guilt too. It's a long and (in the truest sense of the word) messy road to that as a lot of dirty stuff happens in here (but not in the sexual sense obviously, hey these are the 10s, kissing was controversial back then already). Overall, I think the script was the main problem here as Chaplin and also others are far better actors and the constant shots at comedy made it difficult for the cast to shine or the movie to deliver in any genre as the chance was definitely there, but it almost seemed like they did not want it to happen. The slapstick just gets too much at some point, which is no surprise really as the mere quantity of jokes almost rules out that all, or even most, of them could have been convincing. One of the more known Chaplin shorts, not most known probably, but definitely not one of the best. Only watch if you really love Him (then you will also understand the capitalized H). I give this one a thumbs-down though.
Review of Work
